The toxicity of benz (e) acephenanthrylene (BeA) has been studied earlier with regard to the carcinogenicity of its metabolites, but its phototogenotoxicity is not well understood. Present study aimed to analyze the photodynamic response of BeA in human skin cell line (A375) under ambient environmental intensity of UVA (1.40 mW/cm(2)). Kinetic of BeA showed that the highest intracellular uptake of BeA occurred after 24h of incubation. Cell viability, generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), oxidative stress and DNA damage induced by BeA under UVA irradiation were assessed. BeA generates singlet oxygen ((1)O(2)), superoxide anion radical (O(2)(ⁱ-)) and hydroxyl radical (ⁱOH) in a concentration-dependent manner. It was observed that glutathione reduced (GSH) and catalase activity were decreased while DNA damage and cell death were induced significantly (P>0.01) as concentration of BeA increased. Thus our results suggest that BeA may be phototoxic as well as photogenotoxic under UVA irradiation.